


A Loving Gesture is Worth a Thousand Unsaid Words

by WelshCakes68



Series: The Surrogate [5]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Art, Comedy, F/F, Gyms, Homophobic Language, Minor Injuries, Modern Era, Painting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 20:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3992287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelshCakes68/pseuds/WelshCakes68
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Margaery feels like doing something nice for her girlfriend...and then Sansa has the same feeling.</p><p>
  <em><strong>Chapter One</strong> immediately follows on from <strong>Expert Advice</strong> and <strong>Chapter Two</strong> from around the <strong>Cinema Sins/Breakfast in Bed</strong> point in the series.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>This work can be read as a stand alone.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MTL17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTL17/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole fic has spawned directly from a suggestion made by **MTL17** so Kudos to them!
> 
>  _Chapter One_ follows on immediately from **Expert Advice**.
> 
> *WC68*

Margaery let out a small groan as sleep rudely shrugged her off and she was firmly shunted back into the land of the conscious. She turned her head into her pillow whilst reaching out her hand and was disappointed but unsurprised to find the space next to her on the bed cold already. Sansa was the early bird and Margaery the night owl so it was not uncommon for Margaery to wake to a painfully empty bed.

Margaery began to stretch out her limbs and as her back popped her eyes shot open as she remembered the night before. A smug and salacious smirk slithered across her face as she remembered what her Sweet Girl had treated her to the previous evening. Margaery had fallen asleep on the living room floor after returning the favour, curled around Sansa like a cat, until she awoke a couple of hours later and pulled Sansa eagerly with her into her bedroom so that Sansa could spoil Margaery once again, the Highgardener already addicted. She rolled onto her front with a happy sigh, looking forward to how this development in their relationship would play out. She would have to find some way to pay Sansa back; something small, nothing too over-the-top. _‘Maybe a car?’_ Margaery thought to herself, only half joking.

Margaery propped herself up on her elbows and tilted her head, listening to Sansa’s voice out in the living room. Margaery beamed as she leapt out of bed, wrapping the sheet carelessly around herself as she went to see her girlfriend, hoping that she could get through the encounter without swooning.

"Don't worry about it, Beth. If you're ill, you're ill." Sansa was saying to someone on the phone as she sat on the sofa with her back to Margaery. At the bedroom door closing Sansa turned her head and smiled widely at the Southerner, holding her arm out to her and wiggling her fingers imperiously, silently calling her forward as she 'mmmm-ed' through whatever Bethany was saying. Margaery happily stepped forward and gave Sansa her hand which she immediately used as leverage to wrap Margaery's arm around her front, placing an errant kiss to her forearm as she stroked her thumb over the back of Margaery's hand. Margaery smiled as she snuggled into the side of Sansa's head, throwing her other arm around the back of sofa to hug her through the cushions.

"Okay then. Feel better!" Sansa enthused before saying goodbye and hanging up the call. Sansa threw the phone down and let out a groan.

"Everything alright?" Margaery asked, peppering Sansa's cheek with kisses.

"Yeah." She huffed, sounding disheartened. "Beth isn't feeling very well so she can't go to the gym with me today." Sansa answered with little enthusiasm.

It was then that Margaery noted Sansa's gym attire. Since the swim team sessions had wrapped up a couple of weeks ago for everyone to focus on the end of year exams, which Sansa didn’t have this year, the Northerner had been going to the gym a few times a week with her teammate to keep their fitness up. Sansa hated going to the gym alone and Margaery could already see the war being fought in her expression, debating whether she'd bother going this morning or not.

Margaery's first thought was to smirk at having Sansa to herself for a few more hours and was just about to jokingly say something along the lines of, _"Well, if you really want to work up a sweat, I’d be **more** than happy to oblige…"_ when she really looked at this disappointed expression on Sansa's face and, without her permission, quite a different sentiment altogether left her mouth. "I'll go with you."

Sansa burst out laughing, throwing her head back with her eyes closed, guffawing loudly.

"Sweet Stranger, I didn't think it was _that_ funny." Margaery groused, displeased that her gesture was being thrown back in her face.

Sansa's face sobered and she went up onto her knees and spun herself around to face Margaery properly, taking both of her hands in her own. "I'm sorry. I thought you were joking." Sansa apologised sincerely.

"Clearly!" Margaery returned.

"Oh come on!" Sansa smiled, raising a challenging eyebrow at her girlfriend. "It's not like you've _ever_ been to the gym before in your life. Do you even know where it is?"

 _'Roughly'_ Margaery thought. "Yeah, it's between Starbucks and the library."

Sansa laughed. "Well done; you narrowed it down to the right half of the campus." Sansa praised.

_'Win!'_

"So, you really want to go with me?" Sansa asked demurely, looking at Margaery through her eyelashes, a hopeful look on her face.

 _''Want' is such a fluid term...'_ Margaery thought to herself.

"I really hate going to the gym alone." Sansa enthused. Sansa took her training seriously and in the absence of the swim team getting together, going to the gym with Beth was all she really had at the moment of her usual routine, especially now that school had finished too. Margaery would be able to keep her company for a couple of hours before she needed to go to the studio but her Sweet Wolf looked so downhearted at having nothing else to do but sit around the flat all day…that would not do.

"I know." Margaery smiled fondly at her. "And I'm sure. It'll be...fun." She hesitated only slightly.

"Great." Sansa beamed at her, kissing her lips quickly in thanks. "Go get dressed then!" Sansa encouraged with a smile.

"Okay." Margaery tried to smile back just as enthusiastically in return before making her way to the bedroom. She went inside and closed the door before opening it again and popping her head back out. "What exactly does one wear to the gym?" Margaery asked sheepishly, not having a clue.

Sansa smiled widely, marching over to Margaery and grabbing her hand before pulling her along to her own bedroom.

*~*~*

In the end, between both girls' wardrobes, they had just about managed to put an appropriate outfit together. Margaery was wearing an old pair of Loras' shorts that she sometimes wore to paint, an oversized, lightweight material t-shirt of Sansa's and one of her sports bras that was too small on the cup and too big around the chest but was better was nothing. Sansa had looked dubiously at the aesthetic-only, functionless plimsolls she wore on her feet before leaving the house, calling them 'daps' which made Margery howl with laughter for a solid five minutes, completely distracting her from the point that the redhead was trying to make but Sansa gave up, knowing that nothing she had shoe-wise would fit Margaery anyway.

"We can share a locker." Sansa announced as she made her way to the mirrors just off of the changing room to tie up her hair. "I've left a copper in it; just put your stuff in and lock it." Sansa called out as she disappeared from sight.

"Alrighty." Margaery mumbled to herself, locating the locker that Sansa was referring to. She put her phone and her keys and the other odds-and-sods in the locker before picking up the coin and considering it seriously, contemplating where it was meant to go. She gave the key already in the locker door an experimental twist: nothing. She looked at the front of the door for a slot of some sort: nothing. She looked around the room for some sort of machine to put the coin in: nothing. Already slightly on edge from the unfamiliar environment, she ended up slamming the door and trying to twist the key every which way in an attempt to get the door to lock, feeling her face go red as the frustration made her let out a petulant screech.

"Having some trouble?" Sansa’s voice came from behind her a second before her hands squeezed Margaery’s shoulders calmingly.

Margaery blew out the fly away lock of brown hair that had come loose of her ponytail already, attempting to cool her face and make the angry flush recede. “Yeah…yeah. I just can’t quite seem to figure out-” She started to explain when Sansa grabbed the coin from her hand and slotted it into a mechanism on the inside of the door, giving the key the ability to turn smoothly. “Ah…” Margaery trailed off, annoyed at its simplicity.

“Come on…Bambi.” Sansa smirked wickedly, patting Margaery on the rump lightly before walking away.

Margaery huffed in false-annoyance at Sansa’s new nickname for her and the swat to the rear, which she actually quite enjoyed, but didn’t have a chance to fake irritation and complain as Sansa pulled her insistently from the room.

*~*~*

“So, what do you want to do first?” Sansa asked excitedly, looking eagerly out and over at the sea of machinery that Margaery had no comprehension of.

Margaery blew out a breath, shaking her head as she considered. “Where to start? So many…so many body parts I want to…stretch.” Margaery blagged lamely, knowing that Sansa would never buy it but needing to try anyway.

Sansa smiled knowingly, looping an arm around Margaery’s shoulders to pull her along with her to a mirrored corner with mats. “Well, stretching to start is always good.” Sansa agreed, getting into position and Margaery just decided to mirror her moves.

It started out innocently enough. _‘The whole thing was innocent enough! You just have a perverted mind.’ _Margaery corrected herself internally. They had started with necks, lolling their heads from side-to-side for a moment before moving down to arms but by the time they had gotten down to hips, Margaery didn’t mind admitting that there was more observation of Sansa than imitation. Sansa’s bum, barely contained by lycra, stretching not a foot away from her was not something she was like to miss for anything.__

__“Right!” Sansa encouraged as she sprung upwards and then clapped her hands like a cheerleader. “We all limber and ready to go?” She asked, looking at Margaery._ _

__“Totally.” Margaery agreed easily even though she had stopped stretching and started staring five minutes or so ago._ _

__“Great okay, let’s go!” Sansa pumped her fist as if to pump Margaery up._ _

__*~*~_ _

__The whole thing hadn’t gone to plan at all._ _

__They started with spin bikes which, looking around the room at the others using them, Margaery thought she could get on board with but then Sansa refused to let Margaery set up on the bike behind hers, effectively scuppering her plan and affording her a far less scintillating view of the water cooler instead of her intended target. Then they’d done some weights and Sansa had had to explain what a ‘set’ and a ‘rep’ was though Margaery kept muddling them up and pissing the other gym users off with how long she was taking on each machine to complete the exercises Sansa set her. They had finished up with a run on the treadmill, machines side-by-side and she was alarmed at the speed that Sansa was loping carelessly like a gazelle whilst Margaery felt that she herself would have more resembled a scrambling pig next to her in comparison. After three instances of losing her footing and nearly coming off of the machine, Sansa pressed the emergency stop on her machine and finished up a slow cool-down on her own while Margaery scrambled for her breath._ _

__Margaery felt disgusting. She was sweating profusely, her face was red and her hair was plastered to her forehead while Sansa looked fairly unaffected by the whole thing. Margaery looked at her watch and saw that they’d only been here for thirty minutes and felt like she wanted to cry…and vomit. _‘Seven Save Me! She normally does well over an hour here! I’ll never survive.’__ _

__“Let’s go home.” Sansa-the-Saviour sang next to her, stroking a gentle thumb down the side of the brunette’s face._ _

__“No, no.” Margaery tried to rebuke. “Let’s…” _‘Oh gods!’_ “Let’s do another machine.” She tried to enthused from where she was doubled over, leaning on the arm of the treadmill for support._ _

__“I’m good for today. Come on.” Sansa enthused, putting her hands on Margaery’s back to lead her back to the changing room but Margaery shied away, not wanting Sansa to touch her when she was in such a disgusting state._ _

__“Uhhh…uhhhh. Just…need a minute.” Margaery continued to pant._ _

__Sansa seemed to be less than thrilled at the recoil and started to walk away. Margaery tried to call after her but couldn’t get enough air in her lungs through the burn to speak._ _

__A moment later and Sansa returned with a towel and cup full of cold water and Margaery would have kissed her if she had been able to straighten her back…which she wasn’t._ _

__Keen to make up for the earlier recoil at Sansa’s touch on her sweaty body, Margaery flicked her eyes upwards and looked at her girlfriend with a smile as she gratefully accepted the offered water. “The only way someone should get this sweaty is between the thighs of a woman…a beautiful, insatiable woman.” Margaery tried to make her face twist into her trademark seductive leer and raise a suggestive eyebrow but she couldn’t even lift her head properly so ended up propositioning her own elbow with a grimace instead._ _

__Without another word, Sansa lifted Margaery’s head gently and ran the towel over her damp forehead before wrapping it around her neck, putting an arm around Margaery’s side and pulling her towards the locker room to collect their things whilst forcing the cup of water to her mouth._ _

__*~*~*_ _

__They left the gym together, Margaery still grimacing and as the pain slowly began to drain from her muscles she noticed that the pain in her body as a whole ebbed but it all seemed to seep into her right ankle instead._ _

__"Ow." Margaery declared, holding her ankle carefully and something about her tone must have told Sansa that it was legitimate as she was immediately on alert, turning and giving Margaery her full attention, a look of concern on her face._ _

__"What? What's wrong?" She asked in agitation, hand coming up to stroke along her arm soothingly._ _

__"My ankle." Margaery answered on a grimace._ _

__Sansa kneeled down and began to inspect said ankle gently, frowning with each yelp Margaery made in response to a push or prod._ _

__"Bloody daps!" Sansa muttered angrily under her breath, giving the shoes a severe look of reproach._ _

__"What?" Margaery whined the question._ _

__"I think that maybe you've sprained it." Sansa answered, tilting her head upwards to look at Margaery._ _

__At any other time Margaery would have happily considered her girlfriend, kneeling on the floor in front of her in tight fitting clothing, a fabulous view down the cleavage of her sports top and her big blue eyes looking up through long lashes, gaze wide and innocent but the pain in Margaery's ankle was sufficient to kerb her libido. "Exercise!" She spat like it was a disgusting curse word. "I don't think I can walk back to the flat like this. Maybe you could call me a cab?"_ _

__"It's not far; I've got you." Sansa answered as she crouched and presented her back to Margaery, arms held at her side expectantly._ _

__"No way!" Margaery began to protest vehemently._ _

__"Just get on." Sansa argued back with a smile as she looped one arm under Margaery's knee and pulled insistently so that Margaery had no choice but to wrap her other leg around the Northerner's waist. "Shall we?" Sansa asked as though it was an invitation to dance, effectively breaking Margaery's pout into a small, reluctant smile._ _

__They set off back towards the flat at a solid pace though Sansa managed not to jar her too much. They received some strange looks from the passers-by but Margaery couldn't have cared less and merely snuggled closer into Sansa's back with a blissful expression despite the pain in her foot._ _

__"Hey, Dykes!" A voice suddenly called. Margaery felt Sansa's back tense immediately until they saw Myranda waving at them as she approached._ _

__Sansa's muscles began to relax a little bit ( _'Well, as much as you can whilst carrying another human being'_ ) though Margaery noted the scrunch in her forehead took longer to leave._ _

__Sansa had always been enraged whenever Margaery had suffered any sort of homophobia whilst in her presence but experiencing some for herself had been something else altogether that Sansa had yet to but, sadly, would need to get used to._ _

__"What in the seven hells are you two up to?" Randa asked, considering their position curiously._ _

__"Bike ride." Margaery drawled snippily, certain that she wasn’t in the mood for her usual banter with Randa whilst in this state._ _

__"Sacred Seven! How few relationships have you been in that you _don't_ know not to call your girlfriend a 'bike'?!" Myranda asked with mock-scandal._ _

___'Yep, definitely not in the mood.'_ Margaery summarised._ _

__"Maybe if _you_ were giving the backy..." Randa conceded thoughtfully._ _

__"Hey! Don't call my woman a bike!" Sansa argued back semi-seriously with a stern expression, looking a little like Ned Stark himself, especially when her _Northern_ came out extra-thick as she said it, making Margaery want to swoon again._ _

__" _She_ called you one!" Randa argued, tone indignant._ _

__"She's allowed!" Sansa rebuffed._ _

__"Pffft. Preferential treatment. I don't know _what_ she does to deserve it." Randa asked with a lecherous eye raise which had its intended effect, causing Sansa to blush._ _

__“That’s your problem, Royce. You lack…imagination.” Margaery put in with a goading smirk_ _

__“That’s not what I’ve heard from our overlaps.” Randa sang back. Sansa turned her head away at that and tensed up yet again. Margaery looked to Randa and saw straight away that she’d noticed it too, biting her lip at her faux pas._ _

___‘Banter content around Sansa will need to be somewhat censored from now on.’_ Margaery thought to herself. “I guess we’ll never know now.” Margaery bit out through clenched teeth to bridge the silence momentarily whilst giving Randa an imperious nod, commanding her to say something to dig them out of the awkward hole she’d dropped them all down._ _

__“Why Tyrell! Surely you’re not suggesting that we double-team Stark here to get a definitive answer once and for all on who rules supreme?” Randa pressed with a raised eyebrow, smiling widely when Sansa turned back to them both with a scarlet face and scandalised expression._ _

__“That is most certainly _not_ what I was suggesting!” Margaery balked, attempting to shoo Myranda and her now roaming eyes away from Sansa with her uninjured foot._ _

__“What? I bet Sansa’s thought about it.” Myranda nodded to the Northerner casually with a wink, speaking again before the redheads sputtering could form coherent words. “But then I suppose Sansa’s just thought in general about the novelty of being with a woman that actually _knows_ what she’d doing.” Randa baited superbly._ _

__“Royce, if you had half of my prowess-” Margaery started, pointing her finger at the Valian accusingly._ _

__"You know, normally I’d have to stand here for another ten minutes or more, listening to the two of you go back and forth but today I can do this..." Sansa announced before marching purposefully away._ _

__"Whatever Stark! You have my number when you want to upgrade from a novice!" Randa called after them, a smile in her voice._ _

__*~*~*_ _

__Sansa was nearly sagging in exertion by the time they got to their building but she refused to put Margaery down until she could deposit her snugly on the sofa. Sansa collapsed next to her on the cushions, panting slightly and Margaery was happy to note that she appeared to have helped her girlfriend get a beneficial workout after all._ _

__After a minute Sansa jumped up with a quick, explanatory “Water” before disappearing from sight then returning a short moment later with two glasses of chilled water in hand and a bag of peas and a bag of mixed vegetables._ _

__“Hungry?” Margaery asked with a small grimace._ _

__Sansa didn't bother responding, handing Margaery a glass of water and putting the other on a coaster on the coffee table. She came to Margaery‘s side of the sofa, putting one of the cushions to rest against the arm rest then spinning Margaery so that her back rested against it before she took a seat at the opposite end, pulling a small cushion into her lap before gently placing Margaery’s injured ankle on to the cushion and sandwiching it between the two frozen bags._ _

__Margaery tensed at first but then relaxed onto the cushion behind her as Sansa gently squeezed the joint through the produce, a look of intent concentration on her face. Her heart caught in her throat for a moment as a feeling of absolute fondness swept over her, completely vexed at how Sansa could pull of the perfect combination of adorable and sexy at the same time._ _

__Margaery was suddenly struck with an urge to take a picture of the sight so pulled out her phone quietly. The view down her own body was displayed on the screen but Sansa was the focal point, her hair a red halo around her head._ _

__The click of her phone’s camera echoed in the silence making Sansa look up quickly, a questioning look on her face when she realised that her picture had been taken._ _

__“Uhhhh, the girls are never going to believe that I went to the gym; I need photographic evidence.” She covered smoothly, enjoying Sansa’s small smile of agreement._ _

__The redhead went back to her examination and Margaery made herself more comfortable against the cushion and decided that the girls _actually_ wouldn't believe that she'd been to the gym so sent the picture to the Highgarden Girls as well as her mother and Loras with the caption, **'This is why I NEVER GO TO THE GYM!!! #thethingsIdoforlove…'**_ _

__It was only after the message was sent that she realised what the caption implied and knew instantly that she would be getting a slew of messages back for that comment so switched phone to silent and threw it to the side, giving Sansa her full attention again. “Hmmmm. I don't think you'll be rushing to come along with me to the gym again, will you?” The younger girl smiled a small rueful smile up at her._ _

__“It wasn't...completely terrible.” Margaery corrected though not entirely convincing. “But no, probably not.” She agreed with a shake of the head._ _

__“I'm a little bit flummoxed about why you wanted to come along in the first place.” Sansa half asked, voice curious._ _

__“Well, I wanted to do something nice for you.” Margaery explained softly._ _

__“ _You’re_ nice for me!” Sansa enthused, smiling despite the lack of grammatical sense of what she had just said, leaning forward and kissing the only part of Margaery that she could reach; her knee. “Why now though?” Sansa asked as she sat back up, gently pulling away the bags to check on Margaery's ankle._ _

__“Well, I just…wanted to do something to say ‘thank you’ for last night.” Margaery explained nonchalantly, shrugging a shoulder casually._ _

__“What are you talking about?” Sansa asked, dropping the frozen food back to Margaery's injured ankle none-to-gently making Margaery squeak in surprise._ _

__“Oh, you know…last night.” Margaery answered. At Sansa’s expectant look she continued to elaborate. “It was…special and I just wanted to do something…nice for you in return.”_ _

__“Margaery!” Sansa sighed yet managed to sound miffed as she put the frozen bags off to the side. “Last night…that was…you _don’t_ have to ‘make it up to me’.” Sansa enthused with a frustrated shake of the head as her cheeks began to fill with a deep flush. “You’ve done _that_ …a lot since we had our ‘Monica-Chandler Transition’. I’m seriously lagging behind.”_ _

__“I’m not sure that you’re _that_ far-” Margaery begun._ _

__“Thirty-Seven to Two!” Sansa argued._ _

__“You counted?” Margaery asked with a raised eyebrow, making Sansa flush deeper in embarrassment. “You are such a loser!” Margaery countered on a Friends quote to make Sansa laugh, giving her a salacious wink, for once pleased with her girlfriend’s competitive and just nature, causing her to keep track._ _

__“A loser you did it to thirty-seven times!” Sansa finished, crawling over Margaery as they both laughed to give her a solid kiss on the mouth. “Well, I’ll have to do something for you now.” Sansa announced as she retreated and pulled Margaery’s foot gently back into her lap whilst grabbing her own glass of water._ _

__Margaery put her finger to her chin, her eyes going off to the side as she mock-pondered for a moment before answering finally. “I like anal.” She offered with an innocent expression._ _

__Sansa turned scarlet and choked on her water, the liquid shooting out of her nose and Margaery nearly began to cry she was laughing so hard at her perfectly timed comment and Sansa’s predictable reaction_ _

__“You’re such a sod!” Sansa chided as she wiped around her mouth but giggled too at Margaery’s well played joke. “And I’m still doing something!” She argued seriously._ _

__“No! You don’t need to! We’re going to start a never-ending cycle here!” Margaery rebuked desperately, casting her gaze up towards the ceiling._ _

__“I’ve got nowhere else to be; do you?” Sansa smiled beautifully with a raised eyebrow._ _

__“I can’t think of anywhere.” Margaery smirked._ _

__Sansa gently put her foot aside and scooted down the sofa once again to press her lips to Margaery forehead. “I’m going to make us a cuppa.” She announced before jumping up and heading for the kitchen._ _

__Margaery relaxed back into the cushions and closed her eyes. Her breathing had just evened out when her phone vibrated, bringing her out of her trance. She grabbed her phone and started flicking through her messages._ _

__**xAlysanex:  
Oh my gods! Are you okay?! =’( ~AB~** _ _

__**Megga Boobs:  
A clear sign from the gods if I ever saw one!** _ _

__**Elinor (Soul Eater):  
Oh, love? Love is it Margaery?!?!?! XP** _ _

__**Mother-Earth <3:  
I would laugh but you two are so ADORABLE!** _ _

__**xXxLorasxXx:  
Well, well. I cant quite figure out what _inspired_ u 2 break the habit of a lifetime. ¬¬** _ _

__**Merry Cherry-Berry:  
What in the seven hells are you complaining for? I’d take a sledgehammer to my own ankle if I could have a girl like that tending to my wounds afterwards! Woman up!** _ _

__All of the messages made her smile for different reasons but Merry’s she found herself nodding along to as she closed her eyes happily, listening to Sansa potter away in the kitchen and sing along to the radio._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that one! Next is the tables turned.
> 
> *WC68*


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is simply Sansa returning the favour...
> 
> This chapter would take place slightly further along down the Series, around the **Cinema Sins/Breakfast in Bed** point.
> 
> *WC68*

Sansa stood near the door taking deep breaths, clutching the thin, silk robe to her naked body and trying desperately not to let the blood rush to her face to a point that would cause her to lose consciousness.

"Sweet Girl? You okay in there?" Margaery's voice called out softly from the other side of the door.

"Yes!" Sansa croaked out in a high pitch, immediately coughing to clear her throat and try again. "Yes, I'm fine." She answered, sounding a lot more confident to her own ears this time around but also a lot deeper which was equally as embarrassing as her previous broken squeak.

"Okay then. Well...the night's getting on." Margaery nudged gently and Sansa could make out her form leaning in towards the frosted glass, putting a hand up to stroke along the pane slightly as if she could offer Sansa some comfort by doing so.

Sansa took a breath and decided to make an appearance in lieu of answering. She opened the door slowly and peeked out; the first thing she saw was Margaery's beautiful face set in a reassuring expression. "I'm sorry." Sansa apologised softly, feeling her cheeks fill again.

Margaery simply smiled wider, leaning forward, grabbing the back of Sansa's head gently and pulling her in for a series of soft, reassuring kisses. "You've nothing to apologise for, Sweet Girl. I'd be surprised if you didn't have any nerves, especially the first time." Margaery replied, running a comforting hand up and down the arm that was still pressed against the robe, protecting her modesty...for the time being.

 _‘First time? This might well be the only bloody time that this happens…if I can pull my nerve together for it to happen at all!’_ Sansa thought to herself in mild panic.

"Are you certain you'd still like to do this?" Margaery asked in concern. "It's no problem if you don't. I'd hate to think that you're uncomfortable with all this."

The truth was that Sansa _was_ uncomfortable with 'all this' but she couldn't back out now. Margaery was so very perfect that when the cautious suggestion had initially been made Sansa had agreed without thinking it through fully but now, here they were, and she was hoping desperately that her nerves would begin to pass soon.

"I'm certain." Sansa nodded enthusiastically...far too enthusiastically to be casual but Margaery just let out a big sigh and didn't call her out for lying. Margaery brought her hand up to wrap around Sansa and began to pull her along beside her, deeper into the room.

The room was set up beautifully, mood set with candles, soft music, a makeshift bed in the middle of the floor and flowers spread around it carelessly.

Margaery stopped when they were next to the bed, smiled at Sansa reassuringly before going down to her knees, pulling Sansa along with her. Sansa, knowing her role in this, laid down on the thin mattress and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible as she reclined.

Margaery began to fuss over her, carding her fingers through her hair and flipping it over her shoulders, positioning it this way and that as well as the flowers in the sheets before there was nothing else to do and her girlfriend looked significantly at the robe. Sansa took a breath and bit her lip, beginning to untie the sash when she stopped suddenly. "And…and you're absolutely positive that no one will walk in?" She asked again for what was likely the fourth time at that point.

Rather than be annoyed, Margaery smiled at her fondly, leaning in to kiss the crease from her brow. "I am absolutely positive, Sweet Girl. No one comes here at this time of night but, just in case, I've put a sign on the door to stop anyone coming in." Sansa still looked somewhat doubtful so Margaery continued. "We're quite a professional bunch and no one would disturb what's about to happen." Margaery stated seriously, the older girl looking directly into Sansa's eyes with a seriousness in her expression that was usually rare to find.

Sansa took another bracing breath and nodded her head. "Okay." Margaery waited a moment, weighing up her expression before nodding too, helping Sansa manoeuvre out of the robe and bare her naked flesh to the empty room. Margaery's eyes roved over her for a long minute, expression sombre and serious and Sansa felt like covering up again though she resisted the urge. Margaery nodded to herself before encouraging Sansa to lay down again, hands gently encouraging her to alter her position, twisting and pushing and nudging until the brunette leaned back again and cast an assessing eye over her. Her expression stayed serious for a moment longer until her facade cracked slightly and her face softened. "You look beautiful, Sans." Margaery said softly yet with conviction. The Southerner leaned forward and pressed a quick, reverent kiss to her forehead before pulling back.

"Okay." Margaery proclaimed as she stood, stoic expression in place again. "Let's start." She announced confidentially before walking away from the mattress and taking a seat on her stool, pulling the easel closer to herself as she began to rummage through the tubes of paint to her other side.

*~*~*

"Can I talk?" Sansa asked after the first fifteen minutes had passed in silence, finally feeling comfortable enough to broach the topic now that Margaery had begun to actually put brush to canvas after painstakingly obsessing over the mixing of her colours, presumably trying to get _just_ the right shade, for an inordinate amount of time.

Margaery smirked and let out a small huff of laughter. "Yes, you may speak." She announced magnanimously with an edge of satire. "I prefer it actually. It keeps me in the room."

Sansa wasn't certain what her girlfriend meant by that exactly but didn't think now the right time to ask. "Have you done this many times before?" Sansa asked conversationally as a way to distract herself from her overwhelming semi-public nudity.

"A few times." Margaery answered, squinting her eyes as she flicked the paintbrush ever so lightly once more over the canvas before that section was deemed complete and she moved on to the next. "It's been a variety of people. Men and women, people from Lys with skin the colour of ebony and some North of the Wall, paler than snow. Frat boys looking from some extra coin for the next campus party or as a pledge-dare, single mothers from the offices down the street looking for a little extra income, OAP's from the community centre just to do something new and daring at their time of life." Margaery listed dispassionately. Sansa shivered slightly in disgust at the last mention and Margaery laughed though it sounded somewhat pitying. "There's beauty in every variation of the human form, Sansa." Margaery chided slightly, sounding so much more artsy and bohemian than Sansa was used to. "We even take turns ourselves being the subject for the rest of the class." Margaery went on to break the tension.

"You have?" Sansa asked surprised, certain that Margaery had never told her that before.

"Indeed. And let me tell you, it is _far_ more intimidating to pose for a class of fifteen people you see every day, in the harsh light of midday with cleaners coming in and out to access the supply closet over there." Margaery smirked wickedly, nodding to the closet over her shoulder.

Sansa giggled at the visual and Margaery licked her lips and went back to her work. "Yes, yours sounds worse."

*~*~*

"How's it looking?" Sansa asked, her shoulders starting to ache.

"It looks like...how you make me feel." Margaery finished on a smirk, looking at Sansa properly now and seeing Sansa instead of her subject, amber eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Sooooooooo....good?" Sansa hedged carefully.

"More like phenomenal," Margaery returned with a leer, "but that's just my humble opinion." Sansa smiled in return but it pinched into a grimace slightly at the end as her muscles began to cramp in discomfort. "Are you okay?" Margaery asked in concern, standing up. "Do you need a break?"

"Is that allowed?" Sansa asked, uncertain.

"Of course it's allowed, you silly creature. Here." Margaery rushed forward and offered her hand to help Sansa stand. Sansa stood in stages, stretching her muscles slowly while they resisted. When she was finally standing upright Margaery was making her way towards her with a bottle of water and some fruit.

"Are you sure I'm allowed to eat that? It's not someone else's _subject_ , is it?" Sansa asked semi-seriously.

Margaery rolled her eyes as she offered Sansa the items. "There’s only one guy in the class who uses fruit and he's been doing the exact same thing on repeat since our first year; he could use a change." Margaery offered drily.

Sansa let out a laugh but cut off when she felt her robe at her shoulders and saw Margaery holding the arms out for her expectantly. "Thank you." Sansa demurred at the chivalrous gesture, feeling herself flushing for some reason. Sansa looked down at her bare feet on the linoleum floor for a second to compose herself before taking an eager bite out of the apple Margaery had given her. "Can I see it?" Sansa asked with a slight waiver to the request, uncertain if Margaery would abide her seeing an unfinished work.

"Of course." Margaery smiled welcomingly and gestured Sansa over to the canvas. "You are the muse for the piece after all."

Sansa smiled in return and walked over to the pedestal somewhat hesitantly, bracing herself slightly.

When she was stood in front of the canvas, she originally worried that she was missing something. The canvas was half untouched but the centre was a mass of colour and shapes, none of which resembled Sansa except for a mass of rusted orange that she noted matched her hair perfectly.

"You've got the hair shade perfect." Sansa put in confidentially, unsure of what else to say.

"It was harder than I thought!" Margaery enthused happily, looking at the canvas over her shoulder with her own head cocked, brown curls swaying precariously from their haphazardously arranged bun. "That's what took me so long at the beginning." Sansa nodded in reply and took another large bite of her fruit, hoping that the discussion was done so that she didn't demonstrate just how desperately clueless she was about art. "Well, what do you think?" Margaery asked neutrally, taking a seat again.

"Hmmmm." Sansa let out without meaning to after pondering the piece for a few seconds more.

"Hmmmm?" Margaery asked, thankfully grinning. "Is that good or bad?"

"No, no, no!" Sansa rushed in, holding her chin on her hand to give herself more of a pondering air. "It's not _bad_. It's just..."

"Just?" Margaery prompted.

"Well, it's just that...it doesn't look like me." Sansa answered, worrying slightly that she sounded vain at the admission.

"Well, it's not _meant_ to look like you." Margaery argued back reasonably. At Sansa's dubious stare Margaery let out a slight huff of frustration. "I wasn't just trying to sell this to you earlier and drown you in jargon when I said that **"This isn't just going to be some painting of a naked girl"**. My style is more abstract. If I wanted the image of you lying on the bed available to put up on some wall I would just take a photograph and be done with it. This is about more than just your body. I'm not trying to capture your physical form; I want your soul, your essence, your spirit, immortalised on canvas forever! I never want to forget this feeling, Sansa. I never want to forget just what you make me feel just by being you; no frills, no unnecessary clutter, no empty words; just you." Margaery explained eagerly, eyes glowing as she talked about her process and what she was trying to achieve, grasping the edge of the canvas and staring at it hungrily as if she could already see in her minds eye what she was striving for.

Sansa suddenly felt a bit childish and superficial for worrying so much about coming here tonight and doing this, thinking that nudity and sex were focal points of what Margaery was trying to achieve and therefore reasons for Sansa to be embarrassed. In fact, Margaery had maintained a nearly completely professional veneer since she had entered the room, her touch methodical and always moving with purpose, never lingering, only affording Sansa the odd reassuring kiss but never to her lips. Sansa was starting to see that she was seeing a different side to Margaery here in this room; Margaery: The Professional Artist. The Highgardener's eagerness and excitement was palpable and Sansa was swept up with it, her breathing feeling ragged to her own ears. There was a dark, possessive yearning inside of her in that moment, clawing under her skin and demanding that she take Margaery's lips in a searing kiss but, for the first time in their relationship, her hesitation did not come from self-doubt or uncertainty; it came from knowing that now was not the time for such things and that there was something more pressing at hand.

When Margaery was done, Sansa would ask her girlfriend to make love to her amidst the petals and the candles, the sheets and the smell of paint, but for now her break was over and she made her way back to the mattress slowly, with careful, measured steps.

Sansa was glad that Margaery had offered to share this part of herself with her and glad that she'd accepted in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks **MTL17**! I hope this met your expectations!
> 
> *WC68*


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